Habitat modification can homogenize biological communities. Beta diversity analyses provide key information for understanding biotic homogenization, especially given recent conceptual and methodological advances. Here, we investigated if landscape modification was associated with taxonomic homogenization in 32 stream insect communities from the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. We investigated: (1) if the way we defined landscape affected our estimates of beta diversity; (2) to what extent changes in species composition versus relative abundance caused the observed homogenization; and (3) if environmental heterogeneity among modified habitats influenced homogenization. We detected taxonomic homogenization caused by landscape modification only when we used refined landscape categorizations and abundance‐based diversity measures. For forested streams, changes in relative abundance rather than absolute taxonomic composition increased the biological variation. Forested streams were generally more heterogeneous, with a variable set of abundant genera; by contrast, non‐forested streams were more homogeneous, with the same set of genera being more or less abundant. We suggest that landscape modification by agriculture, pasture, and silviculture reduces beta diversity by limiting the colonization of potential species, and, ultimately, causing taxonomic homogenization. Studies investigating biotic homogenization should include multiple dissimilarity measures representing changes in relative species abundance and community composition.

A smart startup ecosystem must own capabilities and information to the accurate allocation of resources among its participants. So, it uses the synergy of partnerships to enhance startups and boost new ventures. The constant evolution of such communities implies an exponential increase in produced data, which can bring essential business insights, despite the involved technical challenges, such as diverse sources, structures, and meanings. To tackle these issues, we are developing the Coral Platform, that joins a repository of data collectors and preprocessors, a flexible dataset, graph models, and ways of visualization.

The use of remote sensing and digital processing of images is increasingly present in the monitoring and analysis of environmental data, mainly due to the ease of obtaining orbital images and the advanced methods of image classification. Temporal evaluation of restoration of native vegetation surrounding springs is important for the protection of water resources. A project named Water Conserver (Conservador das Águas) was developed between 2005 and 2015, involving 380 springs in Extrema, state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, focused on the preservation of water sources. The present study was carried out to quantify and analyze Permanent Preservation Areas (PPA) surrounding these water bodies. Free orbital images with spatial resolution of 30 m were acquired from the satellites Landsat-7 and Landsat-8 in 2003 and 2021, respectively. Object-oriented classification was used to evaluate the total PPA of restored springs over 18 years. The success of the Water Conserver Project resulted in a total restoration of more than 82% of areas surrounding springs up to 2021.

RESUMOAs transações comerciais eletrônicas são uma realidade presente na maior parte dos grandes varejistas nacionais, cada vez mais velozes e geralmente padronizando a operação de compra para obter o máximo de eficiência. Algumas vezes, o comprador sente a diferença das compras em lojas físicas e reclama que não há um canal de diálogo, onde possam tirar uma dúvida, perguntar sobre a entrega ou personalizar a compra. Surgem desse contexto sistemas eletrônicos desenhados para que sejam possíveis a alteração e a interação durante a negociação. O objetivo deste artigo é verificar quais são os canais de atendimento e de negociação ao cliente utilizados pelas cinco maiores empresas de varejo do Brasil. A metodologia utilizada para o estudo foi a técnica de cliente oculto, por meio de simulação de compras nos sites destas empresas. As principais conclusões desta investigação sinalizam a preocupação das empresas em disponibilizar em suas plataformas de ecommerce canais alternativos, que facilitam a comunicação.